A familiar face led Devyn Quigley to consider Penn State as the next step in her basketball career. Lady Lions assistant coach Kelly Mazzante was one of the first coaches she met in high school, creating a strong coach-player relationship between the two.
Quigley started playing basketball in first grade, after watching her sister play and her dad coach the sport while growing up.
“I come from a really big basketball family. So as soon as I started, it became serious. Training, being competitive, wanting to win and just pushing myself.”
The Manchester, N.J., native actually played at the same school her dad coached at. The basketball community of support where she grew up, extended to the Athletic Director who was her dad’s coach during his career.
Quigley had a very early recruiting experience. She earned an ESPN scouts grade of 94 as a four-star recruit, while breaking conference records in high school like tallying 2,627 career points, the most in the Shore Conference.
In her rookie season, she joined NC State. There, she made it all the way to the NCAA tournament two years in a row including a trip to the Sweet 16.
“That is definitely something that I want to experience here. That's going be a goal of mine,” Quigley said. “I would say the thing that I could take the most from that team was the competitive hunger. We wanted to win and I will just keep that mindset here and push my teammates around me to also maintain that want to win.”
Quigley decided to explore her options after her sophomore campaign.
“When I came on my visit and saw the plans that Coach T and the coaches had for me as a player, I could tell that I was going to be developed here,” Quigley said.
Her relationship with coach Mazzante made the decision easier.
“They definitely know what they're talking about when we talk about playing at the highest level. Coach T has kept her promise that she's going push us every day, and she's going make us work for it. I have genuinely felt that,” Quigley said. “There's been so many areas I have improved just because I know she's pushing me, getting me better. All the coaches want you to get better. That is something that is really special here.”
Now, officially a member of the Lady Lions, the guard’s adaptability has made it easy to get used to Happy Valley.
“I think it's my personality. I'm very open to new things and I know I'm always going be okay,” Quigley said. “My motivation to be here is my joy of the sport.” She is also looking forward to building something special with coach Wright and the rest of the program.